Father’s days: Increasing the ‘daddy quota’ in parental leave makes everyone happier

NZ Herald 1 September 2019
Increasing the daddy quota
Parental leave entitlements are a combination of government and workplace arrangements, so what’s available to dads can differ. The minimum entitlement in Australia, as mentioned, is the federal government-paid “Dad and Partner Pay” (DaPP). The government also provides 18 weeks’ pay at the minimum wage to the primary care giver, but fathers claim this in just 5% of cases.

The tendency is for mothers to also take the bulk of leave entitlements in “shared parental leave” systems, where leave is granted to the couple, who then decide how to split it. New Zealand and Canada have such systems, and the evidence is they do not encourage fathers to take leave.

Emerging evidence
There is increasing evidence of the benefits of ensuring a “daddy quota”.

A new study tracking the outcomes of paternity leave in South Korea since 2007 concludes that taking paternity leave is positively associated with life satisfaction for both fathers and mothers.
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